Finished!

 I'm not sure I've ever been so proud to finish something.  My quilt, while far from perfect, is finished!

I was worried about the binding, but that turned out not to be such a terrible part of the process.  

I need to wash it, but I'm a little nervous that it will just fall apart.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

Burger Tour

In October, we went on our annual camping trip, also known as the Arkansas Burger Tour (at least to us).  We packed our masks, among many other things, and set out for a socially distant weekend.  

Fortunately, the weather was just about perfect.  After setting up camp, we headed to burger destination #1 - Oark Cafe and General Store.  

They were operating with a limited menu and outdoor seating only, which was just fine with us.  They didn't have David's favorite pie - peanut butter, so we tried Possum Pie instead.  Happily, it has nothing much to do with possum and is a chocolate cream pie.

The next day, we spent some time enjoying the scenery and working up an appetite for burger destination #2 - Catalpa Cafe.  Last year was our first experience at Catalpa Cafe and went on the recommendation of some people in town.  They were absolutely right in recommending it!   

It's a one man show, and although just up the road from Oark, far less populated.  

The Juicy Lucy, with cheese in the middle and topped with grilled onion and mushrooms, is one of my all time favorites.  He was also operating with a limited menu and outdoor seating only.  It was another beautiful day to eat outside.  We have plans next year to eat at least two meals at Catalpa, because there's more we want to try.

On day 3, we went with some friends to a house owned by an 85 year old man who has it fixed up with period pieces.  Sometimes he is there, as he was that day, sometimes not, but he always welcomes people to come in and have a look.  He was a pleasure to visit with, making this stop one of the highlights of our trip.

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That evening, there is a (lengthy) prize drawing for items donated by many vendors.  After about 2 hours, we were close to packing up our chairs and heading back to camp.  Good thing we didn't though, as the next to last number called was David's!  He won a very cool refrigerator (cool - teehee!) that can be used in the truck or a camper in place of a cooler.  We're really glad we stayed!  Looking forward already to next year!

Quilting 100

 A few posts ago, I mentioned signing up for a quilt class.  The class is Quilting 100, for beginners.  The focus was just on cutting and piecing.

For practice, I made a few blocks from the book.

When my new desk arrived, it was even more fun as I had an extra 2 square feet to work, and a drawer for storage.

The first night of class, we cut all the squares that would be needed for the quilt and began piecing them together.  Our homework was 20 squares like the one below.  It sounded like a lot, but it went quickly!

By the end of the second (and final) night of class, I came home with this.  It was by far the largest thing I've ever sewn.

The class was only for the quilt top, but I got further instructions before leaving.

Soon, it had two borders and was ready for basting.  I made my quilt sandwich and pin basted it together.  

After watching a Youtube video on machine quilting with a regular sewing machine and reading a few tutorials, I was ready to give it a try.  My lines aren't the straightest, but they're improving and it's starting to look and feel like a real quilt!  In retrospect, I think I would have tried something smaller in size for my first one.  I chose Christmas colors because I really thought it was going to be wall hanging size, but I don't think it's so Christmas-y that it can't stay out year round.  I'm determined that it will be finished by Christmas, so stay tuned!